How to trace a pipe

[Parm]

Back to plan A then, I'm gonna source a lithium ball bearing, insert into pipe and apply compressed air. Then switch to water. Hopefully ball bearing will have reached maximum travel and upon contact with water will spontaneously combust to form a perfect hole about 200mm away from the main stop cock

Jobs a good un

 

[mike 109444]

Just pump gas down there and get a pack of 20 + box of matches....
Soon find it

 

[MattF]

I'd chuckle my socks off if someone, in the past, had just shoved a short length of pipe into the ground to confuse a future owner.

 

[Parm]

Just pump gas down there and get a pack of 20 + box of matches....
Soon find it

Now why didn't I think of that, what you recommend, butane or propane

 

[Parm]

I'd chuckle my socks off if someone, in the past, had just shoved a short length of pipe into the ground to confuse a future owner.

Now that's realy not funny at all

 

[tinman123]

This wonderfull thing called the interweb is giving me an altogether more sensible answer. Gen and cat locating system. Gen is attached to some copper braided fibreglass tape which is fed into pipe. Cat is the used to trace pipe.

Will see if the boys at work havevsomething

im not so sure how that will pan out in the likes of a domestic sized pipe altho id imagine it ill be grand as long as you dont come to a T.
but at least you will know where the T is and dig from there..

a lot of civil engineers on water main jobs use the water tape that has two little wires in it, just plug it in and off you go, that is as long as they were careful laying it the first day..

 

[Parm]

im not so sure how that will pan out in the likes of a domestic sized pipe altho id imagine it ill be grand as long as you dont come to a T.
but at least you will know where the T is and dig from there..

a lot of civil engineers on water main jobs use the water tape that has two little wires in it, just plug it in and off you go, that is as long as they were careful laying it the first day..

Pipe bore is 20 or 25 mm dia and sadly no water tape, also no sign of disruption in the garden particularly on the paints as they don't look like theve been disturbed for years

 

[Woody.v8]

Pipe bore is 20 or 25 mm dia and sadly no water tape, also no sign of disruption in the garden particularly on the paints as they don't look like theve been disturbed for years

Maybe there's a mole.

 

[the snooper]

Maybe there's a mole.

what we have someone undercover on the forum ?lets have a whip round, oh doesn't matter they've gone now

 

[Parm]

Maybe there's a mole.

I do have a few moles here!!! For the last few years them bar stewards have been eating some of my five a day from the veggie patch and green house. This year I have plans for them, and they won't be comming back

 

[MattF]

what we have someone undercover on the forum ?lets have a whip round, oh doesn't matter they've gone now

Do you want to borrow the wooden spoon?

 

[Parm]

Do you want to borrow the wooden spoon?

I don't think yours will be big enough

 

[T0rnado69]

This year I have plans for them, and they won't be comming back

bury an air bag next to said vegie, connect wire to a switch then to 12v.
wait for mole to appear then send him flying LOL

 

[Bill Edwards]

I'd chuckle my socks off if someone, in the past, had just shoved a short length of pipe into the ground to confuse a future owner.

Great!

Next time we're doing some excavations for a shed or similar at work, I know just what to do!
Should keep everybody amused for hours
Maybe add some 'gas line' tape for extra effect

 

[Turbo]

a pair of welding rods dousing sticks u might find it funny but it does work I can do it

I can do that also and in the past have used the skill to locate drainage pipework in fields. But then a few years ago we had a bad water leak under our large concrete yard. I tried my divining skills to try to locate a joint in the pipework that had been concreted over. After cutting 2 holes in the street finding nothing we gave in & got in a leakfinder guy.

He connected a machine to a water tap in the yard. It sends a signal down the water pipe using the water as a conductor then he follows the pipe with a detector that senses that signal. I followed behind with a can of marker spray and in no time we had the whole pipe layout marked on the street, including all the spurs. We were able to dig down & find the joint straight away and were able to trace the leak to an unused spur.

The leakfinder charged £100 but it was money well spent. We had already spent over £200 on hiring a road saw & an hydraulic kango. Luckily the house insurance cover the bill which ended up at £600 when we were finished.

 

[Parm]

Right you mischevious lot I think the problem s now solved as my kitchen will be shot to pieces by compressed air launched ball bearings, the garden will be flooded by injecting water down the pipe, fire will follow after lithium ball bearings and any veggies will be blown up by air bags, to top it all off all involved parties will be liberally covered in talcum powder

All in all a good productive evenings work

Thank you all so kindly for your assistance

 

[MattF]

You forgot to mention the flying moles.

 

[Welderpaul]

You can hire a sonde which attaches to drain rods which you can feed down the open end of the MDPE and trace with a CAT. Depends on the size of the MDPE as to whether you will get drain rods down - 25mm and 32mm are a bit tight, especially if it bends about a bit. We used to tape the sonde to a bit of wire for domestic size services.
Obviously you will have to shut off the service and open it up somewhere to do it.

Otherwise, you are trial holing to find it.

 

[ms08]

Just pump gas down there and get a pack of 20 + box of matches....
Soon find it

Now why didn't I think of that, what you recommend, butane or propane

20 Players Superkings

 

[Maker]

Pour a radioactive tracer down it and wander round your garden with a Geiger counter?